Volunteer FAQ

No. It is not necessary to deploy abroad to help out GlobalMedic. There are lots of ways to get involved and support our Responses from within Canada. Once you are signed up as a Registered Volunteer, you will have access to information about all our local opportunities.

No. It is not necessary to be a medic or any type of emergency worker to join the RRT. Anyone can join GlobalMedic as a volunteer. While many of our members are rescue professionals and first responders, we have volunteers from all walks of life and value everyone’s skill-set and potential to contribute to humanitarian aid.

Responses and deployments can vary, but a typical deployment is 3 weeks. Some are bit longer, some a bit shorter. People with more availability can be deployed for longer periods of time, which is always a potential asset. People with a specialized skill set that is necessary for a particular response can often deploy for shorter periods of time (e.g to teach a specialized training program).

The size of the RRT deployed will vary depending on the size of the crisis, the programs that are activated and the funding options available. It has ranged from 2 people to 60 people over an entire response. Individual teams are usually 2-6 people.

We typically try to send a mixture of experienced and new volunteers when we deploy the RRT. This ensures we have solid leadership, and at the same time we are expanding the base of experienced volunteers to draw upon. Some responses also call for specialized skill sets or experience.

It can be difficult for us to differentiate between volunteers that we haven’t met before. Many people have similar qualifications and experience, and everyone has something great to offer. Getting involved with GlobalMedic activities at home is a great way to make sure you stand out from the list of applicants though!

Showing up at packing days and even organizing fundraisers is an opportunity to do more than just help out – it is a way to meet us in person, and to show us you are someone that we can rely on to be a helpful member of the team.

When we are preparing to deploy we will put out a callout to all the volunteers registered as part of the RRT. The callout will provide some information about what we are doing and where we are going, the length of the deployment, and the prospective dates. At that time RRT members can submit an application to deploy.

It’s true that most of the volunteer opportunities happen around our headquarters in Toronto. Logistically, it just makes the most financial sense to operate from that base and coordinate most of our work through there — and every dollar we save is a dollar that goes into life-saving interventions around the world.

We get asked a lot about how people can get involved when they live in other parts of Canada, and the answer is that the best way to get involved can be to create something to do where you live! Start a fundraiser, go out and speak to a school, a community, or your workplace about GlobalMedic and our work and help raise awareness.

Sometimes we ask for help with things like the website, or social media, so if you have that kind of skill set please let us know. What are you good at? What interest and skills can you bring that might not be obvious? In short, tell us how you can help!

If you are interested in deploying internationally as part of the Rapid Response Team then showing initiative, creativity, and follow-through are great ways to make sure your application gets noticed.